Building structure with elevators

ABSTRACT

A building structure is described in which the core walls are used as principally horizontal load bearing structures, said walls being capable of receiving and transferring to the ground substantially horizontal forces from any direction. The service elements on each level are placed so that they are directly above the service elements on preceding levels. Banks of elevators serving the various levels are placed outside the core walls with the front or entry portions thereof facing the outer walls of the building. The elevator banks are in front to rear relationship rather than facing each other.

United States Patent [151 3,659,387 Pearson, Jr. [451 May 2, 1972 54]BUILDING STRUCTURE WITH 3,260,028 7/1966 Fraser ..52/236 x ELEVATORS3,302,340 2/1967 Chertkof. 3,396,502 8/1968 Contevita ..52/236 [72]Inventor: Clyde C. Pearson, Jr., 503 Collier Rd.,

Atlanta 30318 Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh [22] Fil d; A 6, 1970Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman 21 Appl. No.:. 26,031 [57] ABSTRACT U8 Cl A building structure is described in which the core walls are"52/30! 52/236 used as principally horizontal load bearing structures,vsaid [5 l Ill. Cl; walls being p bl f i i g d t f rring to the groundFleld Of Search R Substantially h i l forces f om any directigr TheService [56] References Cited elements on each level are placed so thatthey are directly above the service elements on preceding levels. Banksof UNITED STATES PATENTS elevators serving the various levels are placedoutside the core walls with the front or entry portions thereof facingthe outer 1,724,586 8/ 1929 mm? walls of the building. The elevatorbanks are in front to rear 1 932729 l2/1933 stark relationship ratherthan facing each other. 1,967,832 7/1934 Lindquist.. 1,988,075 1/1935Fiorini 3 Claims, 29 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHAY 21972 SHEET 2 OF 8 Z0/E 3 500K? 204/5 fl F0455 FIG.4

Zd/VEF 20085 Zd/VE C Edd/E5 Y W FIG.7

w m w M K m m F; M w

PATENTEDHAY 21972 W m 8 3,659,387

1 N & CQQEQE m J M if m 3:55 m M m M w w n W W we. 7 m w Mn 4 a 3 r N E55:5; mm W WW E M .w M T EL y W m W J M y 5 V FIG. l2

BUILDING STRUCTURE WITH ELEVATORS This invention relates to a structuralarrangement for buildings and an elevator arrangement to be used inconjunction with said structural arrangement in multistoryconfigurations of said structural arrangement.

Since the emergence of the high-rise ofi'ice building over 80 years ago,while many developments have taken place which have provided improvedelectrical, mechanical and elevated systems and improved materials andmethods of construction, little improvement has taken place in the basicrelationship of the foregoing elements and the relationship of theforegoing elementsto the basic building structure with the result thatthe basic structural arrangement of such buildings has changed littleover the years. With rapidly increasing construction and maintenancecosts, however, it has become imperative that the time-wom basicconcepts of building structural arrangements, especially with respect tomulti-story buildings, be reexamined with an eye to providing a higherratio of rentable square footage to gross square footage in order forthe construction of such buildings for leasing purposes to be aprofitable venture.

In the area of multi-story buildings, the original high-rise buildingdesigns, which were made possible by the then recently developed steelframe structural systems, were characterized by floors of uniform planand elevation supported on a base of larger scale and capped by adistinctive attic story. This basic design changed little as thepyramidal form customary for larger buildings became widely used; thislatter structural design being necessitated by set-back requirements inzoning laws and because the need for light and air limited the distancebetween the exterior wall and the elevator core which decreased in sizeon the upper floors as the number ofelevator banks decreased.

The pyramidal shape was no longer used in new construction begun in the1940s when adequate air-conditioning and artificial lighting systemswere developed, and this resulted in the slab building which tookadvantage of structural standardization and provided larger workingareas on the upper floors. In spite of the changes set forth above,however, the basic structural arrangement of such buildings has remainedthe same. That is, the support and load-bearing structures used haveundergone very little change with the result that rentable floor spacehas increased very little. There have been attempts to enhance therental efficiency of such buildings, but these attempts have in factoften resulted in a loss of or a wasting of space and/or flexibilitywith an increase in the cost or complexity of the building. For example,unused elevator landings on upper levels have been utilized for serviceelements, i.e., toilets, janitor closets, storage rooms, mechanical andelectrical closets and shafts, stairs and the like. By relocating suchfacilities at the various elevator bank terminations, proceedingupwardly, the lateral transitions from floor to floor involve a loss ofspace and flexibility while significantly increasing the complexity andcost of the building. In buildings having multi-bank elevator systemsmuch space is wasted in unused elevator landings on the lower and middlefloors; after the service element requirements are met, many of thesespaces remain vacant. While the latter may be rented as storage space,they cannot justify the high rentals asked for the typical floor spacebecause of their interior location, awkward size and sometimes noisycondition arising out of the fact that they are boxed in on at least twosides by elevator banks serving upper floors.

In the typical multi-story buildings presently being constructed,elevator landings are used which are too narrow or cramped on the mainor entrance level of the building while the elevator landings on thefloors above are too spacious for the needs of each particular floor.This situation has arisen out of the fact that the entrance level andthe floors above have radically difierent traffic requirements, and acompromise usually takes place to accommodate each. The inefficiency ofuse of floor space is obvious. Furthermore, the typical elevator landingon the floors above the main level serves no useful purpose other thanbeing a waiting area or access corridor to another corridor directlyserving offices or the like on that floor. Because the elevator landingis generally defined on both sides by elevator banks, the space thereincannot be utilized as a direct access corridor for offices located inclose proximity to the elevator doors.

A building's supporting structure must in order to meet present daydemands be designed to resist the horizontal forces emanating from alldirections, i.e., those loads caused by Wind, earthquake, water, soil,asymmetrical gravity loads or the like or any combination thereof, butit is desirable that the interior space be as column-free andunobstructed as poss ible. The latter two objectives are oftenconflicting. The conventional rigid frame structural system whereincertain of the joints formed at beam-column intersections are made rigidwill adequately resist the usual horizontal loads, but such a structuralconfiguration will not necessarily result in a relatively column-freefloor space. Further, the rigid frame structure requires heavier steelbeams and columns, requires more complex connections and is generallymore expensive. Another approach used for horizontal load transferstructures is the utilization of diagonal bracing or shear walls. Thelatter may be reinforced concrete or a combination of steel membersfabricated in such a way as to form a truss which transfers horizontalloads to the ground. Obviously, then either the exterior walls or thecore walls of the building must be used for this latter type ofconstruction. In present building designs, however, it is not possibleto use core walls as effectively as they should be used because only therear walls of the elevator shafts are of sufircient height, and thesewalls are not available for each direction from which horizontal loadsmight be expected to come. In certain of the directions there will be nocontinuous walls extending from the ground to the top of the building totransfer the loads from those certain directions because largepenetrations are made at the junction of the elevator lobbys andcorridors at various vertical locations along these walls, In a recentlyconstructed building the exterior walls have been used; but theaesthetics of such a building have been seriously questioned, and theentrance of natural light into a building of this design is somewhatimpaired. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a structuralarrangement including an elevator arrangement which would permit themaximum use of the core walls for structural support by allowing suchwalls to extend continuously from the ground to the top of the buildingand which are arranged to withstand horizontal loads from alldirections.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an efficientbuilding structure in which the core walls alone can provide theresistance to all horizontal loads brought to bear on the building. Thisdoes not preclude the use of the outside walls or other frames to helpresist the horizontal loads.

A further object of this invention is to provide a building structure inwhich the service elements on each succeeding level are located directlyabove the service elements on preceding levels eliminating costly andcomplex lateral transitions from level to level while permitting the useof the core walls as horizontal load bearing structures.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a buildingstructure which will maximize the usable and rentable floor space byminimizing the space needed for elevator landings.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a buildingstructure which will meet all of the foregoing objects with a minimum ofcost and complexity.

The aforementioned and other objects are obtained in a buildingstructure constructed according to the principles of this invention inwhich core walls, located within the outer walls of the building, areprovided which are properly braced to act as horizontal load bearingstructures. Furthermore, these core walls are arranged so that thehorizontal loads from any direction may be transferred to the ground. Oneach level all service elements are placed so that they are directlyabove like service elements on a preceding level thereby eliminating allexpensive and difiicult transitions of these elements at varioustermination levels of elevator banks throughout the build-.

ing. All such service elements are placed within a space defined by thecore wall or walls. Banks of elevators sewing various floors are locatedoutside the core walls with the front or entry portions of the elevatorsfacing the outer walls of the building. The elevator platforms arerelated front to rear rather than the conventional relationship of twobanks of elevators facing inward to an elevator landing. Therefore,opposite the elevator doors of the elevator bank serving a particularfloor only a minimum of space need to be used for an elevator landing,and a wall may be placed directly opposite the elevator doors definingthe landing, which wall might well be the wall of an office or the like.That is, this wall may be penetrated with doors to gain access to tenantspaces, or it may not be used at all in the case where an entire levelor a portion thereof is occupied by a single tenant. In the lattersituation it can readily be seen that virtually the entire floor outsidethe core wall or walls is usable space. At the main entrance level ofthe building, access to any elevator bank may be had by going to one ofthe different vertical levels which is the lower termination of theparticular elevator bank communicating with the desired level.

The invention may be best understood by reference to the description ofa preferred embodiment given hereinbelow in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the lower entrance level of the preferredembodiment of the building constructed according to the principles ofthis invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of only the core wall structure and elevatorarrangement on the main entrance level of the preferred embodimentbuilding;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of only the core wall structure and the elevatorarrangement on the upper entrance level of the preferred embodimentbuilding;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the core wall construction, the serviceelement arrangement and the elevator arrangement on the floors or levelsin zone A in the preferred embodiment building;

FIG. 5 is a plan view like FIG. 4 showing the arrangement on the floorsconstituting zone B;

FIG. 6 is'a plan view like FIG. 4 showing the arrangement on the floorsconstituting zone C; 7

FIG. 7 is a plan view like FIG. 4 showing the arrangement on the floorsconstituting zone D;

FIG. 8 is a plan view like FIG. 4 showing the arrangement on the floorsconstituting zone E;

FIG. 9 is a plan view like FIG. 4 showing the arrangement on the floorsconstituting zone F FIG. 10 is a plan view showing only the core wallconstruction, the service element arrangement and the elevator arrangement in the lower level of a first sky lobby above zone F in thepreferred embodiment building;

FIG. 11 is a plan view like FIG 10 of the arrangement on the main levelof the first sky lobby;

FIG. 12 is a plan view like FIG. 10 showing the arrangement on the upperlevel of the first sky lobby;

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing only the core wall construction, theservice element arrangement and the elevator arrangement of the floorsconstituting zone G in the preferred embodiment building;

FIG. 14 is a plan view like FIG. 13 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone H;

FIG. 15 is a plan view like FIG. 13 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone I;

FIG. 16 is a plan view like FIG. 13 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone J;

FIG. 17 is a plan view like FIG. 13 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone K; I

FIG. 18 is a plan view like FIG. 13 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone L;

FIG. 19 is a plan view of only the core wall construction and elevatorarrangement of a lower level of a second sky lobby in the preferredembodiment building;

FIG. 20 is a plan view like FIG. 19 showing the main level of the secondsky lobby;

FIG. 21 is a plan view like FIG. 19 showing the arrangement in an upperlevel of the second sky lobby;

FIG. 22 is a plan view showing only the core wall construction, theservice element arrangement and the elevator arrangement on the floorsconstituting zone M in the preferred embodiment building;

FIG. 23 is a plan view like FIG. 22 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone N;

FIG. 24 is a plan view like FIG. 22 on the floors constituting zone 0;

FIG. 25 is a plan view like FIG. 22 on the floors constituting zone P;

FIG. 26 is a plan view like FIG. 22 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone Q;

FIG. 27 is a plan view like FIG. 22 showing the arrangement on thefloors constituting zone R;

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 28-28 in FIG. 1;and

FIG. 29 is a crosssectional view taken along the line 29-29 in FIG. 1.

In the preferred embodiment of the building structure according to theprinciples of this invention shown in FIGS. 1 through 29 the multi-levelbuilding shown therein is of atype in which vertically adjacent floorsor levels are grouped into zones, each zone being served by a particularbank of elevators. The zone arrangement in the preferred embodiment issuch that each zone is indicated by a letter of the alphabet, and thezones are in alphabetical order proceeding upwardly. A predeterminednumber of the aforementioned zones are formed into groups of zoneswithan access level, commonly known as a sky lobby interposed betweenvertically adjacent ones of said groups of zones above the groupadjacent the entrance level. An elevator bank is supplied on theentrance level for serving each of the access levels or sky lobbys.Further, each access level willhave a bank of elevators for each zone inthe group of zones thereabove served by the particular access level.Each said bank of elevators for each zone will serve all of the floorsor levels in that zone only. Each of the zones below the first sky lobbyare served by a particular bank of elevators having a lower terminationat the entrance area of the building.

The entrance area to the preferred embodiment building structure iscomprised of three levels; the lower entrance level is shown in FIG. 1,the main or ground entrance level is shown in FIG. 2 and the upperentrance level is shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 1 which shows the lowerentrance level the entire outline of the building structure is shown.That is, this is the only figure in which the outer walls 30 and thecolumnar vertical supports 32 are shown. These elements should beconsidered as implicit in the remaining figures. Within the outer walls30 and centrally disposed therein are four core walls 34 which areformed into oppositely facing pairs, roughly forming an H, parallel tothe building walls 30. Core walls 34 are so arranged that they form anenclosed hollow space 36 which, because the core walls extend throughthe height of the building, extends vertically through the entire heightof the building, as well. Within the core walls 34 and in space 36stairways 38 may be placed which as well may extend upwardly through theentire height of the building. Four elevator banks, 300, 400, E and Fare provided on the lower entrance level. Each elevator bank has itsrear wall adjacent one of the core walls 34, and its front walls,through which entrance to the elevators may be made, are facingoutwardly of the core walls toward the outer walls 30. As best shown inFIG. 28, elevator banks 300 and 400 proceed directly to the uppermostsky lobby, sky lobby No 2, and as best shown in FIG. 29, elevator banksE and F serve the floors constituting zones E and F, respectively, whichare below sky lobby No. l.

The main entrance level is shown in FIG. 2, and this level has the samebasic construction as did the lower entrance level shown in FIG. 1. Twomore elevator banks are added at the showing the arrangement showing thearrangement main entrance level, these being elevator banks C and D.These latter two elevator banks are placed directly in front of elevatorbanks E and F so that access may be had only to elevator banks C and Don this particular level. Elevator banks C and D serve each of thefloors constituting zones C and D, respectively. The shafts for elevatorbanks 100 and 200 are shown in this figure, but access may not be had tothese elevators at this particular level. Further, because the shaftsfor elevator banks 100 and 200 are present on this level, access may notbe had as well to elevator banks 300 and 400.

In FIG. 3 the upper entrance level is shown, and again, the constructionon this level is like that of the lower entrance level shown in FIG. 1.On this level elevator banks 100, 200, A and B are added. Elevator banks100 and 200 serve directly sky lobby No. l, as best shown in FIG. 29.Elevator banks A and B serve the floors constituting zones A and B,respectively, which are alphabetically directly above the upper entrancelevel.

When one in entering the building, he may proceed to the desiredentrance level by using one of the escalators 40 shown in FIGS. 1through 3. The choice of entrance level will depend upon the desireddestination. If the entering party desires to proceed to one of thefloor in zones A through F, which are served directly by elevator banksaccessible at the entrance area, he must proceed to that entrance levelat which access to the desired elevator bank may be had. If the enteringparty desires to proceed to one of the zones served by either sky lobbyNo. 1' or sky lobby No. 2, he must use either elevator banks 100 or 200or elevator banks 300 and 400. Upon reaching the desired sky lobby, atransfer must be made to the elevator serving the floors in the desiredzone. This latter point will be discussed more fully hereinbelow.

In FIGS. 4 through 9 are shown in plan view the core construction of thebuilding structure in zones A through F, respectively. With reference toFIG. 4 it will be noted that only elevator bank A opens on the zone Afloors. The remaining elevator banks are either closed by a wall orblocked by another elevator bank placed outwardly thereof. Thus,elevator bank A serves only each of the floors which constitute zone A.Proceeding upwardly, the plan vview of the core construction of the zoneB floors is shown in FIG. 5. It will be noted in this figure that theelevator bank A is missing thereby increasing the usable floor space onthe floors of this zone. It is to be noted as well that only elevatorbank B opens on the floors of zone B, and it will be remembered thataccess to elevator bank B was had at the entrance area. The arrangementin FIGS. 6 through 9 is essentially the same as was discussed withreference to FIGS. 4 through 5 with the number of elevator banksgradually decreasing as one proceeds upwardly and only one elevator bankopening on the floors of a particular zone.

The construction of core walls 34, which extend continuously through theentire height of the building, may be of any desired type designed andconstructed to resist all of or part of any horizontal or lateral forcesbrought to bear on the building structure. These forces can be appliedexternally and/or internally to the structure. Such horizontal orlateral loads may be due to, but are not limited to, wind, earthquake,water, soil erosion, asymmetrical gravity loads, or any combinationthereof. Furthermore, if desired, the walls can be made to receivevertical loads from any floor or floors or from the roof. The methodsand materials for the construction of walls which will resist andtransfer to the ground the horizontal loads mentioned above are wellknown to those skilled in the art and form no part of this invention.For example, such walls may be a structural frame, rigid or otherwiseand may be encased in any building material, or may be a solidstructural wall encased or not encased in any building material. Inaddition, it is contemplated that any material yielding the desiredresult may be used within the scope of this invention.

The core walls 34 in the preferred embodiment are placed to formoppositely facing pairs at 90 intervals forming therein an essentiallysquare hollow space 36 on each floor. Of course,

because the core walls 34 extend throughout the entire height of thebuilding, the space 36 on each succeeding floor will be directly orvertically above the space 36 on a preceding floor. By means of thisarrangement, all of the service elements 42 and stairwells 38 may beplaced in space 36 formed by the core walls 34. In view of therelationship of the spaces 36 on each floor, these service elements andstairways may be placed one above the other on each floor therebyeliminating all expensive and difiicult transitions of these elements atvarious termination floors of elevator banks throughout the buildmg.

As can be seen in FIGS. 4 through 9, as well as the figures hereafter,banks of elevators serving various floors are located outside the corewalls 34. The elevator platforms are related front to rear rather thanthe conventional relationship of two banks of elevators facing inward toan elevator landing. In FIG. 4 elevator bank A, which serves the floorsof zone A, is there terminated, and as mentioned above, therebyincreases the rentable square footage of the building on the floorsthereabove. The same is true of elevator bank B serving the floors ofzone B, and the same sequence is repeated at each elevator banktermination of the building thereby increasing the rentable squarefootage proportionately at each elevator bank termination. Opposite andsubstantially parallel to the elevator doors of the elevator bankserving each typical floor there may be placed a wall (not shown)defining the elevator landing for that particular floor. This wall neednot be a structural wall and can be located any desired distance fromthe elevator door serving that particular floor in order to create anelevator landing of the width desired. The walls enclosing the elevatorbanks not serving that particular floor can be used as the walls ofusable and rentable floor space. The wall (not shown) forming theelevator landing may be penetrated with doors to gain access to tenantspaces for multiple tenant occupancy or completely eliminated for singletenant occupancy.

FIGS. 10 through 12 illustrate the structural arrangement of sky lobbyNo. 1. Each of the levels of sky lobby No. l are interconnected byescalators 46 so that upon arriving at the main level of sky lobby No. lin the elevators of banks and 200, one may proceed to the elevator bankserving the desired floor. Otherwise, the core construction and outerwall construction of the sky lobby will be the same as with the entrancelevels discussed hereinabove. As shown in FIG. 10, access may be had toelevator banks K and L serving the floors of Zones K and L, respectivelyon the lower level of sky lobby No. 1, access may be had to the elevatorbanks I and .l at the main level of the sky lobby as shown in FIG. 11and access may be had to elevator banks G and H on the upper level ofsky lobby No. l, as shown in FIG. 12. As mentioned hereinabove, elevatorbanks 100 and 200 terminate at the main level of sky lobby No. l. Theelevator banks 300 and 400, shown in FIGS. 10 through 12 proceeddirectly through sky lobby No. l and the zones served thereby to skylobby No. 2, as shown in FIGS. 19 through 21.

FIGS. 13 through 18 illustrate the core construction of the zones Gthrough L floors or levels, respectively. The structural arrangement oneach of these floors will be similar to that discussed with reference toFIGS. 4 through 9. It is to be noted that again, as each elevator bankterminates, proceeding upwardly, the usable and rentable floor spaceincreases as well.

In FIGS. 19 through 21 is shown the core structural arrangement of thesky lobby No. 2. This sky lobby is constructed in the same way as wassky lobby No. l with the core walls and elevator banks being arranged insubstantially the same manner. Access may be had to sky lobby No. 2 fromthe lower entrance level by means of the elevators of banks 300 and 400which proceed directly to this sky lobby from the entrance level. Uponarriving at the main level of sky lobby No. 2, as shown in FIG. 20, onemay proceed, by means of escalators 48, to one of the other sky lobbylevels shown in FIGS. 19 and 21, if desired. As shown in FIGS. 19,access may be had to elevator banks Q and R at the lower level of skylobby No. 2, and these elevators serve the floors constituting zones Qand R, respectively, as was the case with the elevator arrangementsdiscussed hereinabove. Elevator banks and P open onto the main level ofthe sky lobby No. 2, as shown in FIG. 20, an elevator banks M and N openonto the upper level of sky lobby No. 2, as shown in FIG. 21.

FIGS. 22 through 27 illustrate, respectively, the core constructionfloor plans of the zone M through zone R floors.

With respect to the core wall construction and arrangement, as well asthe arrangement of the service elements, the construction on theselevels is the same as that on the levels discussed hereinabove. It willbe noted, however, that because of the absence of elevator banks 100through 400 on these levels, the usable floor space on these levels issignificantly increased. Furthermore, with the termination of elevatorbanks M through R, proceeding upwardly, at the ends of each of thelatter zones there will be a further increase in usable floor space.

FIGS. 28 and 29 are longitudinal cross sections taken along the lines28-28 and 29-29, respectively, in FIG. 1. These figures clearly show thevertical relationship of the sky lobbys to the entrance levels, and thevertical relationship of the various zones to the sky lobbys andentrance levels in this preferred embodiment building. The horizontallines, a few of which are indicated by the numeral 50, indicate thedivision between zones rather than a division between floors or levels.Thus, the vertical space between two adjacent horizontal lines 50 mayinclude any desired number of floors. Further, while each zone willusually have an equal number of floors, this need not be the case.

In FIG. 28 it can be seen, for example, that if one wishes to proceed tosky lobby No. 2, it will be necessary to proceed to the lower entrancelevel of the building and enter one of the elevators in either elevatorbank 300 or elevator bank 400. These elevators then proceed directly tothe main level of sky .lobby No. 2. If one wishes to proceed to skylobby No. I, it will be necessary to go to the upper entrance level ofthe building and use one of the elevators of either elevator bank 100 orelevator bank 200 to go to the main level of sky lobby No. 1.

Referring to FIG. 29, if one wishes to proceed to one of the floors inzones A through F, it will be necessary to proceed to one of the threelevels of the entrance area of the building and choose the properelevator bank for the level chosen.

If, for example, one wishes to be taken to one of the floors of zone Hit will be necessary to use elevator banks 100 or 200 for transport tothe main level of sky lobby No. 1. At that point, one must proceed tothe upper level of sky lobby No. 1 and board one of the elevators ofbank H to be taken to any one of the floors in zone H. With thisdescription it is believed that the relationship of the various levels,as shown in FIGS. 28 and 29, will be understood.

The description of the preferred embodiment structure given hereinaboveis intended to be only exemplary, and it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that the structural arrangement disclosed herein maybe modified within the scope of the appended claims. Certainly thisinvention is not limited to office buildings but can also be used inapartment buildings or any other high rise building. In particular thepreferred embodiment described herein is a large multi-story building,but

the advantages of this invention, particularly with respect to the corewall construcn'on and arrangement, may be realized in buildings havingonly a few stories in a general range such as eight stories or more.Particularly in building having fewer levels, the staggered elevatorarrangement need not be used while still obtaining the importantadvantages of this invention. The preferred embodiment disclosed hereinhas a core wall arrangement which is generally in the form of the letterH, but it is contemplated that other arrangements may be used to obtainthe objects discussed hereinabove, e.g., the walls may be arranged togenerally form the letter I or a single circular wall may be used.

What is claimed is:

1. A building structure comprising a plurality of levels, an

outer enclosure means enclosing said structure and an inner core wallconstructlon including bracing, centrally disposed interiorly of saidouter enclosure means and extending continuously through the entireheight of said building structure for receiving horizontal forces fromany direction acting on said building structure and for transferringsame to the ground and service elements located within said inner core,said service elements on each succeeding level being located directlyabove said service elements on the preceding level and said structurefurther comprising at least two banks of elevators each bank beingarranged adjacent and parallel to the outside of a separate wall of saidinner core and the elevators within each bank having entry meansdisposed on the side thereof opposite said inner core.

2. The building structure defined in claim 1 wherein a predeterminednumber of vertically adjacent ones of said levels form a zone, saidbuilding structure being comprised of a plurality of said zones and atleast one entrance level and having at least one elevator for each ofsaid zones, each said elevator communicating with said entrance leveland said levels in a predetermined one of said zones.

3. The building structure defined in claim 2 wherein a predeterminednumber of vertically adjacent ones of said zones form a group of zones,said building structure being comprised of a plurality of said groups,

said building structure having in addition a plurality of access levelsinterposed between vertically adjacent groups of zones above the groupof zones vertically adjacent said entrance level, at least one accesselevator for each said access level, each said access elevatorcommunicating with said entrance level and a predetermined one of saidaccess levels,

each said access level having at least one elevator for each zonethereabove but below the next vertically adjacent access level, eachsaid elevator communicating with said access level and the levelscomprising a predetermined one of said zones thereabove and saidentrance level having at least one elevator for each of the zones in theone of said groups between said entrance level and the first of saidaccess levels thereabove, each said elevator communicating with saidentrance level and the levels in a predetermined one of said zones insaid group.

1. A building structure comprising a plurality of levels, an outerenclosure means enclosing said structure and an inner core wallconstruction including bracing, centrally disposed interiorly of saidouter enclosure means and extending continuously through the entireheight of said building structure for receiving horizontal forces fromany direction acting on said building structure and for transferringsame to the ground and service elements located within said inner core,said service elements on each succeeding level being located directlyabove said service elements on the preceding level and said structurefurther comprising at least two banks of elevators each bank beingarranged adjacent and parallel to the outside of a Separate wall of saidinner core and the elevators within each bank having entry meansdisposed on the side thereof opposite said inner core.
 2. The buildingstructure defined in claim 1 wherein a predetermined number ofvertically adjacent ones of said levels form a zone, said buildingstructure being comprised of a plurality of said zones and at least oneentrance level and having at least one elevator for each of said zones,each said elevator communicating with said entrance level and saidlevels in a predetermined one of said zones.
 3. The building structuredefined in claim 2 wherein a predetermined number of vertically adjacentones of said zones form a group of zones, said building structure beingcomprised of a plurality of said groups, said building structure havingin addition a plurality of access levels interposed between verticallyadjacent groups of zones above the group of zones vertically adjacentsaid entrance level, at least one access elevator for each said accesslevel, each said access elevator communicating with said entrance leveland a predetermined one of said access levels, each said access levelhaving at least one elevator for each zone thereabove but below the nextvertically adjacent access level, each said elevator communicating withsaid access level and the levels comprising a predetermined one of saidzones thereabove and said entrance level having at least one elevatorfor each of the zones in the one of said groups between said entrancelevel and the first of said access levels thereabove, each said elevatorcommunicating with said entrance level and the levels in a predeterminedone of said zones in said group.